The Other Side
by vonobsession
Summary: IwaOi. Two-Shot. Oikawa wakes up one day and soon realises that nothing will ever be the same again. How will he, and others, deal with this new reality? (First fic that I've written in a while so please don't be too harsh) *possible mentions of mental disorders/suicide etc* ***REVIEWS CONTAIN SPOILERS***
1. Chapter 1

He shut his eyes... And, after a few minutes, everything went silent. As if the world had stopped. He couldn't feel anything either; it was as if he was in a dream, floating away into nothing. But it felt real. _Too_ real.

Oikawa slowly opened his eyes and looked around at his surroundings. He was laying on his bedroom floor with his alien-patterned blanket next to him. 'Oh... It was just a dream.' He thought to himself, rubbing his eyes and trying to get them to adjust to the bright sunlight which was ripping through his thin curtains. Just what time was it anyway? He sat upright and turned his head to the left, to where his bedside unit was, '12:04?! Looks like I'm not going to school today then.' He muttered to himself. 'But... Why didn't dad wake me up like he usually does?'. Oikawa simply shrugged it off, it's not as if he was in the mood to attend school anyway. Not after the recent events that had happened to him, so many things had gone wrong... In fact, nothing seemed to be going right. He had even argued with Iwaizumi which had not happened before, well, not to that extent anyway.

After a little while of trying to wake himself up properly, he stood up and then realised he had no idea what day it was. When he thought about it, he couldn't even remember what happened yesterday or the day before. 'Maybe Iwa-chan hit me a little too hard that time.' He frowned, that was sadly one thing he could remember but no matter how hard Iwaizumi had hit him or how bad they left off, the truth was clear; Oikawa needed Iwaizumi. He just wasn't sure if the feeling was mutual... Not after hearing the black haired boy say those words. Regardless, he decided he was going to try and make up with him.

He shook his head lightly to bring himself back to his current situation. 'Right. I'm already dressed but I really should go have a wash. I feel like I've been sleeping for days.'. He ruffled his hair and headed to the bathroom to clean himself up to at least look a little presentable for going to see Iwaizumi; if he was at home. Once he was in the bathroom, he pressed the tap on... or at least tried to. 'Strange.' He thought to himself as he pressed the tap again but this time he noticed that the button wasn't even going down. Instead of using his fingers to press it, he tried to use his whole hand instead; to add more force to it. But still, it wouldn't move. 'Stupid thing.' He frowned again, he must be dreaming. He grew more confused than frustrated now, not understanding what was going on. 'Maybe the tap is just stiff. Yeah, that explains it.' He nodded at his own explanation and shrugged it off and headed towards the front door.

After noticing the front door was wide open, he looked around quickly. "Dad?" He asked, he could see the car outside that his dad drove so maybe he had been shopping and was bringing the food into the house. "Dad?" He asked again but there was still no reply. Oikawa peeked around the kitchen door, 'Ah, there he is!', he saw his dad standing with his back to him. "I'm going to Iwa-chan's house, okaaay?" He said with his usual cheery voice and grin. But again, no response. 'Ugh, maybe he's listening to his music again... Or checking the food bill.' Oikawa sighed and walked out the house, it was best to not disturb his dad when he was focusing or he'd be given a bunch of chores to do (and he wanted to avoid that at all costs).

After a few steps outside, he started to skip lightly-humming as he continued onwards towards Iwa-chan's house. 'Oh look, Mr Refreshing is heading my way.' He thought as his eyes focused on Suga who was walking towards him... And then straight past him. No eye contact, no exchange of words. Nothing. Oikawa had been completely blanked. "What..." He said out loud, stopping on the spot, not understanding what had just happened. Usually Suga says a polite hello or smiles softly at him but not today.

Oikawa started to feel as if he was invisible, nobody was paying attention to him regardless of his efforts. Like all other strange events that had happened today, he shrugged it off, maybe Suga was too focused on something to notice him. 'Iwa-chan will definitely acknowledge me!' He thought as he continued onwards, skipping and humming again.

A little later and Oikawa was outside of Iwaizumi's house; it had been a while since he'd visited him outside of school and volleyball practise. Since their last meeting didn't exactly go that well, Oikawa was practising what he was going to say when he saw him again-'Hey, Iwa-chan!... No, too casual. Iwaaa-chaaaaan... No, too irritating.' but nothing quite fit right. He extended his arm and knocked on the door, which was already open but he thought it was best to be polite and knock. No sound. Nothing. Oikawa looked at his hand and then back at the door, 'I did just knock, right?' He asked himself before attempting to knock again. But he got the same result; no noise, it was as if his fist wasn't even hitting the door at all. He was starting to think he was actually in a dream... Or that he had to wear his glasses more often and had just been missing the door completely.

Nobody came to the door so Oikawa just took himself inside, slipping through the gap between the door and the door frame and glancing around for someone. It's not as if Iwaizumi's parents knew they both had argued and Oikawa always used to just walk in so they shouldn't be angry if they saw that he just let himself in. Iwa-chan's house was so neat and clean, there didn't seem to be anything out of place at all. All decorations were dusted and placed in a certain order, even the carpet was spotless. No dirt to be seen around.

Oikawa tip-toed up the stairs, not to be quiet but in order to leave as little dirt there as possible. "Iwa-chan?" He called out, hoping to hear at least something in response. But again, like all other times today... There was no response. As soon as he got to the top of the stairs, he could hear a faint noise coming from... Iwa's room? He took a few more steps towards the room before he could hear the noise more clearly. Suddenly his heart beat got faster and his palms began to sweat more than before, 'Is it Iwa-chan making that noise?' He asked himself before he took one more step so that he was right outside of Iwaizumi's room, looking inside of it. His eyes widened at the sight he saw.

Oikawa could feel his chest tighten when his eyes fixed onto the raven haired boy, who was sitting on the edge of his bed, sobbing uncontrollably with his face buried deep into his hands. Hearing how much he was struggling to breathe in-between his sobs was enough to make Oikawa tear up. 'No... No no no.' He thought, 'Why are you so upset?' He was trying to think of a reason but failed to think of a result. "I-Iwa-chan!" He managed to get out before taking one more step into the room, one step closer to the boy who was there on his bed, crying so hard that he wasn't focusing on anything else around him. He had never seen him so upset or crying so hard before.

Oikawa then looked around, not wanting to make himself get too upset by looking at his 'best friend' crying, the room was a mess. There were photos scattered all around the floor and clothes not folded or put away, everything was completely different to how it usually was. 'What the hell has happened to you, Iwa-chan?' He said in a quiet voice, then looking closer at the pictures which were on the floor. 'M-Me? Why are there pictures of me and Iwa-chan scattered all around?' Nothing was making sense but then nothing that happened today made any sense either. His thoughts were interrupted by a small word coming from the boy's mouth,

"Why?" Iwaizumi asked, was he asking Oikawa or himself? Oikawa was just about to respond when he continued, "Why did you go?!" He asked, in quite an angry, but clearly hurt tone. His breathing and sobbing had calmed down a little so he was able to talk (well, kind of). "You had me... If nobody else was there. You had ME." He blurted out, lifting his head from his hands and looking up. Staring straight ahead, to where his volleyball jersey was. His eyes were bloodshot and it was clear that he had been crying for quite some time. His face was stained with tears and his hands were just the same.

Oikawa walked a little closer and decided to sit on the bed next to Iwaizumi, he wanted to hug him, he wanted to comfort him but something was holding him back, however, he wasn't sure what it was. "I'm here, Iwa-chan... You have me." Oikawa quietly said before looking down, 'What can I do? What can I do?' He kept asking himself over and over again.

"Could you not see I cared? Dumbass." Iwa's eyes began to well-up with tears again and his bottom lip started quivering.

Seeing Iwa-chan in such a state, he couldn't hold back much longer. He flung his arms around Iwaizumi and lay his head on the boy's shoulder. Oikawa had never been good at comforting him but... At least he could show him physical affection, right?

"I feel like... You're right here, with me. That you're trying to make me feel better with one of your stupid hugs... But you're not and you never will be here again..." Iwaizumi started before slouching back over and putting his face in his hands, yet again.

This statement was the one that really hit Oikawa. 'Never will be again?' He asked himself, pulling away from Iwaizumi. "No, Iwa-chan don't be stupid! I'm right here. I'm not leaving you. I haven't left at all!" His voice began to break as he was on the brink of tears. He was trying not to cry but he failed, one tear fell, then another and another. They just kept falling and Oikawa's vision became blurred very quickly but it didn't stop him from seeing that Iwa-chan hadn't even heard what he was saying. He hadn't reacted at all. 'What is going on? Please... Someone stop this. Why can't he hear me?!' He frantically asked himself. 'Is this a dream? Yes it must be. Just a very horrible dream that I'll wake up from.' Or so he hoped. He needed to clarify what was going on but how? How could he know if this was this really reality? Oikawa got off the bed and sat right opposite the boy so that he was on the floor, looking up at his friend, watching but unable to do anything.

"If you're up there with the aliens now... How about you come and get me? I'd rather be up there with you than down here without you..." Iwaizumi just about managed to say that before he choked on the tears he was trying so hard to hold back.

"What are you-" Oikawa started before he was abruptly interrupted when a familiar voice echoed through the house.

"Hajime, the funeral is soon... I hope you're ready." Was all the woman's voice said, who was in fact Iwaizumi's mother.

"As if I could ever be ready for this." Iwaizumi said quite bitterly as he raised his head from his hands again. He lent to the side and grabbed a tissue from the box and then wiped his face. He threw the tissue back onto the bed and stood up abruptly. It was as if he wanted to conceal how hurt he really was... Oikawa could see it though, he could see just how badly Iwa-chan was hurting yet he could do nothing to help. Nothing to help the one who was always there for him when he needed someone. Nothing to help the one who clearly needed someone right now. Nothing. He was useless. He didn't even know what was going on... But even if he did; he still wouldn't be able to do anything to help. That's just how useless he was.

His eyes followed Iwa who was now walking towards the bedroom door, "No, no, no! Don't leave me! Don't leave me alone again!" Oikawa pleaded as he started to cry even more. It was just like that time, that time where Iwa-chan had left him when he needed him. But he couldn't let him do it again. As a natural reaction he reached out, trying his best to grab hold of the boy's clothing. But he failed, he just couldn't grip onto anything and so he watched as the boy walked closer and closer to the door. "IWA-CHAAAAAN!" He yelled, as loud as he could, becoming so desperate for Iwaizumi to just stay there with him. He didn't want to be alone again. He needed Iwaizumi.

"Huh?" Iwa turned his head around, glancing back into his room. His face was full of confusion. "As if..." He then muttered to himself, turning back and heading out of the room, down the stairs and eventually out of the house. But, for that split second, he could have sworn that he heard Oikawa's voice calling his name. But that was impossible, right?

He left and Oikawa was alone. All alone with his thoughts. His very wonderful thoughts. After seeing Iwa-chan turn around, he felt a small bit of hope, however, that small flame of hope was extinguished when Iwa-chan left the room.

Oikawa gritted his teeth, 'God damn it... Just wake up already! This-this is a nightmare!' He kept trying to convince himself that he was in a dream and that he would wake up soon but, would he?

Just then, his eyes caught a glimpse of a crumpled piece of paper, that had been uncrumpled in order to read (supposedly by Iwaizumi), on the bed next to where Iwa was sitting just minutes before hand. Oikawa rose himself up from the floor and leant onto the bed with his elbows, his eyes fixing onto the letter;

'Iwa-chan, I'm sorry...' Oikawa read just that first line and his chest tightened which caused his breathing to become heavier. He already knew what this was but couldn't bring himself to believe it.

'I just can't deal with this anymore...' Now the tears started to fall, more than before, more than ever before.

'I never thought I'd end up doing this.' Even though reading this caused him to remember that night, Oikawa was in a state of denial. He refused to believe that he had done that.

But the memories were so vivid now; of him laying on the bedroom floor, looking up at the ceiling with the empty pill bottles next to him. He had taken so many pills... Too many to even count. Why?

Because he was desperate. He wanted to escape.

But this is what he was faced with instead.

He finally came to accept that this was his reality.

That he was dead.

But he got what he wanted, right?

He got his escape, right?

Wrong.

Everything was worse. So much worse than before.

But that was the reality and what he now had to live with.


	2. Chapter 2

Oikawa sat in the corner of Iwaizumi's room, trying to actually process his current situation.

He couldn't speak to anyone.

He couldn't physically do anything.

He knew this was so much worse than actually living.

But then, what could he do about it?

Nothing.

He was nothing.

His eyes shot open when a door was slammed shut downstairs. 'I guess I drifted off to sleep for a little while...' He thought as he got up from the corner and looked around. 'Ah, maybe Iwa-chan is finally home!' He thought to himself rather happily, a smile appeared on his face before it faded slowly as he was hit with a realisation; Iwaizumi was one of the few things that made him happy. One of the few things he actually cared about. And now... He could never tell Iwaizumi how he truly felt. He couldn't even hug the boy that he wanted to hold him his arms and call his... It's not as if that would ever happen anyway.

He was sure that this was torture in its most silent form.

Just as he was about the leave the room, he was met face-to-face with Iwaizumi who stomped into the room and slammed the bedroom door shut behind him. Oikawa just moved to the side and watched as Iwa un-buttoned his shirt and threw it onto the floor. Oh how Oikawa loved seeing Iwa-chan's well-toned body. After practise, he would always peek at Iwa-chan when he was changing, just to admire him. Now he could admire his body all he liked but he couldn't touch it no matter how badly he wanted to.

Iwaizumi was standing still, frozen on the spot, with his fists clenched as silent tears ran down his face. This sight was enough to break Oikawa's heart once again. He just stood there, watching the tears roll off the other boy's face, unsure of what to do. It's not as if he could comfort Iwa-chan but it's not as if he could leave the room either. He was stuck in a situation that he despised. He despised what he had become.

"God damn you!" Iwa shouted quite loudly which made Oikawa jump. "God damn everything!" He continued, his knees giving in on him.

Oikawa stood there, watching as his favourite person, in the entire world, collapsed to the floor, weak and emotional.

"Someone end this... Please." Oikawa muttered out, not wanting to be in this situation any more.

He was desperate. But there was no way out. He was trapped in this hell.

He regretted ever wishing for death. He would gladly take living normally over this invisible life any day. But he knew nothing could change his current situation.

Regardless of how horrible this situation was, he knew of one way to calm Iwa-chan down... Although Iwaizumi would most likely kill him if he knew what he was planning to do.

'I'm already dead so I may as well try...' Oikawa thought to himself before walking over to Iwa-chan and crouching down so that he was level with him. Then, without hesitating, he pressed his lips against the other boy's lips and stayed there for a few moments, savouring this rare opportunity. He never thought he'd be able to kiss those lips. Those lips that he had been longing to kiss for so long. Not that it was even a proper kiss... but it was the best he was ever going to get now.

He pulled back and looked at Iwa's expression; he looked confused and a little shocked but Oikawa just smiled slightly in response.

"I must be going crazy..." Iwaizumi said while he raised his hand and touched his mouth, he could have sworn that something was pressed against his lips just then. It felt as if someone had kissed him... but nobody was there, right?

"At least that stopped you from crying, Iwa-chan..." Oikawa whispered as his slight smile faded, his happiness lasted only a few seconds before drifting away again.

"I swear I keep feeling you here with me... and it's driving me insane. Everything feels so real but it can't be. You aren't here anymore!" Iwa blurted out. Oikawa flinched at those words; they hurt like a bullet going through his chest each time, no matter how many times he heard them... He really wasn't there to Iwa-chan. And that was the painful reality.

"But I am here..." He protested.

"No you're not!" Iwaizumi yelled before he and Oikawa both stopped and froze for a moment. Had Iwa just been replying to what Oikawa was saying? Or was he just replying to what he thought Oikawa would say in that situation?

"I'm even hearing voices that I think are you now... Why did you leave me? Was I not enough for you? Did you feel absolutely nothing towards me? Did you even... Like me?" He questioned but as he got to the end of the questions, his voice had gotten so quiet that it was as if he was whispering; seemingly to try and disguise the fact his voice kept breaking as he was on the verge of tears once again. "Clearly you didn't feel the same as I did..." Iwa muttered out as he stood up and rubbed away the stray tears from his face with his hands.

He unbuckled his belt and took his trousers off, throwing them to the ground; then he climbed into his bed and turned to face the wall. The wall that was once plastered with pictures of him and Oikawa was now empty; only little rips of where the images had been pulled off the wallpaper were present. The pictures reminded Iwa too much of the boy who he came to love but could never tell... As if the 'Great King', Oikawa, would love someone like him anyway. Someone so plain and ordinary as him.

Oikawa shuffled back to the corner, back to the place he could drift off to sleep. He knew there was no reason to torment Iwa-chan further by trying to talk to him. 'Maybe he could actually hear me...' He thought before he mentally shook away those thoughts, 'It was probably a coincidence...' He knew there was little point in getting his hopes up that maybe, just maybe, Iwa-chan would be able to see and hear him again.

Iwaizumi hadn't attended school since the death nor had he been to volleyball practise. Everyone else was trying to move on with their lives... But not Iwaizumi, he couldn't move on. The funeral, of Oikawa, was the first time he had actually left the house. Every time he even thought about leaving the house, he had rather vivid flashbacks of that day. That one day he wished had never happened. That one day he wished he could turn back and change.

The day that he found Oikawa, laying lifelessly on the ground, with the empty pill bottles surrounding him.

The day that he found Oikawa with tears stained down his pretty face, his body cold to touch.

The day that he found Oikawa with a note in his hand which was addressed to 'Iwa-chan'.

The day that he found Oikawa, the boy that he loved, dead on his bedroom floor.

He wanted nothing more than to rewind time; to change how things would have turned out. Maybe he could have saved Oikawa. Maybe, just maybe, Oikawa would be here with him if he had done something differently. Then he realised that the last time they saw each other was when they both argued. It was the time he left Oikawa when he knew Oikawa needed him more than ever before... But he left him alone. He let out a sigh as the memories, that he tried so hard to forget, came flooding back. It was true, he blamed himself more than anyone else. He was the one who left and he hated himself for it. If he had stayed with Oikawa then maybe he would be with him right now; sitting on the floor while telling him all his theories about aliens, like he always used to do. But Iwaizumi knew that he couldn't turn back time... If he could then he would have done so in an instant.

"I'm sorry..." Iwa said faintly, hoping that somehow the words would reach the one they were meant for. He then sat up abruptly and looked at his hands before slapping himself in the face. This act got Oikawa's attention.

"Damn it, I'm never going to get to sleep when all I think about is you." Iwa then stood up, grabbed a bottle that was on his desk, and walked out the room.

"H-hey! Where are you going now?!" Oikawa frowned, he wasn't going to let Iwa-chan leave again. Not this time and never again. He quickly scurried from the corner and followed Iwa-chan. 'The bathroom?' Oikawa questioned in his thoughts before it clicked, 'He's going for a shower like he usually does when he can't sleep...' He nodded to himself while quickly catching up with Iwaizumi, he couldn't pass up on this opportunity to admire Iwa-chan's body again.

But the sight in front of him, when he got to the bathroom, was one that was pure torture. His throat tightened and he felt as if he was suffocating. His breaths became short and shallow. His head throbbed in pain as he tried to process what he was seeing.

"Why..." He choked out as the tears started to fall, "N-no..." He then said, using the door frame as a support to hold him up, his knees had become weak.

Iwaizumi was there, emptying the bathroom cabinet, grabbing and downing all pills that he could find. He had become desperate. Desperate to end it. He couldn't bare living without Oikawa anymore. He couldn't bare living without the one he loved.

"I-Iwa-chan... Please... Stop!" Oikawa could barely see from the many tears that blurred his vision but he could see enough to tell that Iwa-chan wasn't stopping.

"I'm sorry, Oikawa." Iwa said after he had emptied and swallowed the majority of pill bottles and pills that he could find. He could see his reflection in the mirror in front of him. He hated what he had become. He punched the mirror out of anger, shattering the glass, causing his hand to bleed.

"Iwa-chan... Please!" Oikawa pleaded while he got closer to the boy. He reached out his hand, trying out of desperation to stop Iwaizumi. "Stop... Stop... Stop... Stop!" He kept crying out, his hand unable to grip onto Iwaizumi at all.

"I'll be joining you soon." Iwa said as he opened the last pill bottle with his bloodied hand. Then he swallowed them, one at a time, taking a large swig from the bottle of vodka that he had next to him after each one. His body was clearing trying to stop him from continuing too.

"STOP IT! PLEASE, NO MORE!" Oikawa yelled, he was so desperate that he flung himself at Iwa-chan, using his entire body weight to try and push Iwaizumi over, just something to stop him taking those last few pills. But it didn't work, Oikawa was the only one who fell to the floor. He couldn't do anything. He was so useless.

Iwaizumi simply swallowed the last few pills, finished the bottle of vodka and, as steadily as he could, walked over to the shower. The raven-haired boy took off his boxer shorts and got into the shower but didn't even bother closing the glass door the whole way; what was the point when he'd be dead in a little while anyway?

Oikawa followed Iwa-chan with his eyes, the blurred view just got worse as he thought about what had just happened. He couldn't believe he had just seen his best friend, the one he loved, the one he cared about most, down all those pills to kill himself. He forced his body to get up and he took a few steps towards the shower, being careful as to avoid the broken glass on the floor. He wiped his eyes so he could see a bit clearer but the tears just kept coming. Luckily, there was enough room for Oikawa to squeeze in through the open door. The shower was quite large and had filled up with steam already but he could still see the boy in front of him who was struggling to breathe properly.

'Damn... The pills are already effecting him...' Oikawa thought to himself, it was now or never. He looked at the glass door and traced his finger over the steam which had condensed on it. And to his shock, his finger left a clear mark. He wasted no time in writing Iwaizumi a message.

As Iwa-chan turned around to grab the sponge he saw the message Oikawa had written on the door and his heart almost stopped. His eyes widened as he read what it said;

'I love you'

No, Oikawa couldn't have written that. What made him even think that it might be Oikawa? He rubbed away the message but stared at the glass for a little longer. Oikawa saw this as an opportunity to prove it was him so he wrote another message while Iwa was watching.

'I love you, Iwa-chan' is what Oikawa wrote this time.

Iwaizumi put his non-bloodied hand over his mouth, he couldn't believe what he had just read. He didn't want to believe that the message was from Oikawa but there was no reason to doubt it. Nobody else called him 'Iwa-chan'. Nobody else could possibly love him. Nobody else would go this far for him.

"You look pretty good naked." Oikawa said rather quietly, looking at Iwaizumi's fully exposed body before Iwa's head turned abruptly to face where the voice came from.

"What?" Was what Iwa replied in harsh but shocked voice.

"What?!" Oikawa stuttered out, Iwa-chan was facing him, he had replied to him. Did that mean... Did that mean he could hear him?

"What did you just say, you-" Iwa started before a wave of weakness came over him. The pills and alcohol were clearly effecting his body now. He pushed one hand against the wall and other against the glass door, trying to keep himself upright. But Oikawa was simply overwhelmed that Iwa could actually hear him.

"I love you, Iwa-chan." He repeated, this time that he said it, he saw Iwa-chan's face flush bright red. Iwaizumi clearly didn't have the strength in him to hide his emotions.

"Feeling is mutual, Shittykawa." Iwaizumi replied, a slight half-smile appeared on his face as he saw Oikawa's face light up after hearing those words.

Oikawa couldn't help but kiss Iwa-chan, again, but more passionately this time. What he wasn't expecting though, was for Iwa to kiss him back. Did that mean... Iwaizumi could see him? And feel him? Oikawa pulled away and was about to ask but Iwaizumi re-connected their lips. This action answered all of Oikawa's questions. He wanted to stay there, happy with Iwa-chan, forever. But the truth was all too strong; Iwaizumi was dying and Oikawa was already dead.

Iwa broke away, "It seems like... your time is up." He said quietly, his body grew even weaker as he was not able to say much before it became painful.

"W-what?" Oikawa asked, confused by Iwa-chan's words but then he saw. He saw that his skin had started becoming translucent and was fading away slowly.

He was fading away.

"N-no! I... I don't want to leave you, Iwa-chan." He stuttered out, his pleading eyes focused onto Iwaizumi who grew paler with each second that ticked past.

"Don't worry... I'll be with you... Soon enough."

"Promise me that you'll stay with me this time." Oikawa then placed his soft hand on Iwaizumi's cheek.

"I promise." Iwaizumi muttered out faintly. He then watched as the one he loved faded even further into nothing. "I love you." He managed to mutter out to Oikawa just before Oikawa disappeared completely.

And that was it.

Oikawa had gone.

But Iwaizumi could still feel the ghost of his hand on his cheek.

And he knew it was his time to go.

His body had now shut down completely.

He took his final breath and then everything went blank.

But at least he died with a smile on his face.


End file.
